HAT 13, 1901.
Th Commoner.
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WlCUBBeNTVOPICS 1f
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A COMPARISON of disasters overtaking the
Russian and .Japanese army is presented by
the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune. The Japan
ese defeats are set forth as follows:
February 20 Cossacks routed a Japanese
scouting party in Northern Korea, eighteen miles
south of Wiju.
March 9 Admiral Makaroff made a sortie
from Port Arthur late at night with six Russian
torpedo boat destroyers and attacked the Japanese
torpedo boat flotilla. One Japanese torpedo boat
was torpedoed and sunk and one Russian tor
pedo boat destroyer "was also lost.
April 25 The Russian Vladivostok squadron
entered the harbor of Wonsan, Korea, and sunk
a Japanese merchant steamship.
April 2G The Japanese transport Kinshiu,
with 173 nien,was sunk by the Russian Vladivostok
squadron in the Sea of Japan. The Japanese sol
diers refused to surrender and were gamely fight
ing when the ship, split in half by a torpedo,
went down.
May 1 In battle of Yalu River Japanese cas
ualties reported as 800.
THE Russians have been heavier losers not
only of men and property but also in the
prestige of arms.
The Russian disasters so far are as follows:
February 8-9 Three Russian vessels disabled
by Japanese torpedo boats at Port Arthur. A gen
eral engagement followed, in which four more
Russian warships were sunk- or disabled.
February 9 Russian cruiser Variag and gun
boat Korietz sunk off Chemulpho, Korea, after
battle with a Japanese squadron.
February 12 Russian torpedo transport Yeni
sei blown up at Port Arthur by accidentally strik
ing, a mine.
February 13 Russian cruiser Boyarin l)lown
up by submarine mines at Port Arthur.
February 14 Six Russian colliers captured by
the Japanese.
February 26 The Japaneso fleet again at
tacked Port Arthur, sinking one Russian torpedo
boat. l
April 13 The Russian battle ship Petropav-
Jovsk blown up and sunk by a Japanese mine in
.the outer harhor of Port Arthur. Admiral Ma-
. karoff and 674 officers and seamen lost their lives.
April 14 Russian torpedo boat destroyer Is
trahni was cut off fromv a fleet of scouts off Port
Arthur, and sunk by "the Japanese. Only five
of her crew escaped. The battle ship Pobleda,
while maneuvering off Port Arthur, struck a mine
and was badly damaged.
April .21 Russian troops fled' across the Yalu
before a large body of Japanese, Hundreds being
drowned while crossing the rivor in overcrowded
boats.
April 22 Russian launch blown up and sunk
while laying mines at Port Arthur, and twenty
one men killed.
May 1 Culmination of Japanese effort to cross
the Yalu. Russia loses 800 men, 23 guns, 20 of
ficers captured.
IONIA Olive Jones, descendant of the family
from which John Paul Jones tooic his name
explains in a letter to the Kansas City Star, how
the great hero happened to adopt the name of
' Jcnes when he was christened "John Paul.' This
writer says that "John Paul" was a Scotchman by
birth and that when a mere jouth he visited
Allen and William Jones who owned large estates
upon the Roanoke river. The Jones brothers be
came attached to the young sailor, adopted him,
and gave him their name, which he promised to
distinguish. Through these two brothers he ob
tained his commission in the colonial navy.
UNITED States Minister Powell upon leaving
San Domingo, addressed the president of
'that Ropublic, and said that neither the govern
ment nor the people of the United States had the
least idea of annexation. They desired that Santo
Domingo should remain a sovereign independent
power, and in this the republic would have the
support of the United States government. Mr.
Powell said his government would not consent to
any part of Domingo going under the control of
any foreign power.
THE 58th Congress made an earlier adjourn
ment than any of its predecessors. This
congress adjourned April 28, and the Des Moines
Capital says that it is the earliest adjournment
which has taken place since the early part of the
civil war as is made plain by the following table
compiled by Congressman Underwood of Alabama:
Thirty-seventh Republican; Grow, Speaker;
July 17, 1862.
Thirty-eighth Republican; Colfax, Speaker;
July 4, 1864.
, Thirty-ninth Republican; Colfax, Speaker;
July 28, 1866.
Fortieth Republican; Colfax, Speaker; July
27, 1868.
Forty-first Republican; Blaine, Speaker; July
15, 1870.
Forty-second Republican; Blaine, Speaker;
June 10, 1872.
Forty-third Republican; Blaine, Speaker;
June 23, 1874.
Forty-fourth Democratic; Randall, Speaker;
August 15, 1876.
Forty-fifth Democratic; Randall, Speaker;
June 20, 1878.
Forty-sixth Democratic, . Randall, Speaker;
June 16, 1880 .
Forty-seventh Republican; Keifer, Speaker;
August 8, 1882.
Forty-eighth Democratic; Carlisle, Speaker,;
July 7, 1884.
Forty-ninth Democratic; Carlisle, Speaker;
August 5, 1886.
Fiftieth Democratic; Carlisle, Speaker; Octo
ber 20, 1888.
' Fifty-first Republican; Reed, Speaker; Octo
ber 1, 1890.
Fifty-second Democratic; Crisp, Speaker;
August 5, 1892
Fifty-third Democratic; Crisp, Speaker;
August 28, 1894.
Fifty-fourth Republican; Reed, Speaker;
June 11, 1896.
Fifty-fifth Republics; .itced, Speaker; July
8, 1898.
- Fifty-sixth Republican; Henderson, Speaker;
June 7, 1900. .
Fifty-seventh Republican; Henderson, Speak
er; July 1, 19C2.
REFERRING to the list of literary men
and women who have died since January 1,
1904, a writer in the Reader Magazine directs
attention to the extraordinary average of longev
ity This writer points out Mrs. Latimer, had
reached the age of 81, Citizen Train had passed
75 years of vivid life; Von Hoist, the scholar, had
gone too soon at 65; Hallowell, the Quaker, was
65- Mrs. Ketchem, who, in her youth, wrote the
gallant and taunting lines of "The Bonnie Blue
Flag" was in her 80th year; Rev. Dr. Cooper, the
philosopher, was 73; Professor Powell, the histor
ian has spent 75 studious years; Erastus Wiman
was 70 and Sir Leslie Stephen left the life in
which he had found so niuch of interest, taste and
fine pleasure, after 81 years of discriminating en
joyment A number of other writers departed this
world of more or less futile activities, at 60 and
65 Only one of the list, Professor Beecher of
Yale, had cried quits before reaching the half cen
tury mark. , ,, . ,,
This bears witness to the fact that the career
of the literary worker is not a hazardous one, at
least, so far as our sane, grave, temperate Ameri
can writers are concerned. It seems to be dif
ferent with those who have a flame within them.
The last few years have seen some gallant adven
turers in the world of thought go down though
with' colors flying, be it said. De Maupassant and
Emma Lazarus, Stephen Crane and Henley, Stev
enson and Norris, Hovey, Fairless and Carryl
above all, Stevenson.
A PRINTER at Louisville, Kj, is just now
attracting some attention because he gave
up a position- to help his fellow man. The
Louisville Courier Journal tells the story in this
way: "Because ho thought another man who waa
married and had a family needed the place moro
than ho did, Will Alvot has given up a job which
paid him $4 a day and his place has been laken
by Edward Johnston. Both men aro striking job
printers and were employed by tho Courier-Journal
Job Printing Company as proof readers. Alvot
at on'co secured a placo with tho Globe Printing
Company as head proof reader, his wages being $4
a day. He went to work, but a row days later
learned that Johnston was out of a Job and could
not got another placo. Johnston Is a married man
and has several chlldron. When Alvot" heard of
this he went to tho managers of the printing
company and offered to resign his place if they
would give it to Johnston. The company ngrecd
and Alvot left. Johnston then went to work and
now Alvot is out of a place.
THE largest warrant ever drawn upon the
United States treasury figures In the settle
ment of the Panama Canal transfer. This warrant
is in tho sum of $40,000,000. The New York
Evening Post says: "This will give Secretary
Shaw the distinction of affixing his signature to
the largest single warrant ever Issued in tho
courso of government business. It will also rank
in tho opinion of New York bankers as the largest
sum over transferred by tho Interchange of a
single slip of paper. When tho $20,000,000 was re
mitted to Spain at the close of the Spanlsh-Amori-can
war, four treasury warrants of $5,000,000
each were used. They were paid over at intervals
of aweek or moro to the French ambassador, by
James Stlllman, president of the National .City
bank, of New York. In that instance gold was not
used as a medium of excharfge, although metal
covering the full amount was exported to Europe
within two months after the transaction was
completed."
IT ! S predicted by Professor George Darlow
that as a result of the apparitions now grow
ing in the distribution of the solar system, tho
moon will return to the earth which gave her
sudden birth so many years before and that tho
planets and their satellies must ultimately yield
to the gravitational influence of the dying sun.
A writer in Harper's magazine says: "We must
conceive of tho solar system of today, then, as
gathered into one central mass, closely aggregated
around that point which, from the beginning, has
constituted its center of gravity. And what will
be the stage of this shrunken object? It will be a
dark star, a dead sun. There are myriads such in
the heavens. Sir Robert Ball has said that to
count all the bright stars that we can see and
say "these are all there are," would be Hko count
ing the redhot horseshoes in England and saying,
"This Is the total number." This dark torbe will
therefore be just suth another as millions more.
There' will be no life upon it. We can not con
ceive the terror of its cold, for the nebula has been
dissipating energy, in the form of light and heat,
into the chilly depths of intersidereal .space ever
since tho first hour of its longaeval shrinkage.
What is the destiny of this dead sun, amongst
whose constituent atoms, remember, will be those
in the printer's ink before your eyes and those
in the eyes themselves? Are they forever "stablo
in desolation," as Stevenson has It to be borne
onwards through infinite space? No; this shriv
eled globe, the common tomb of Sun and Earth
and Mars and of the bodies of the great that onco
breathed thereon, may live again. Give it but
the consuming embrace of such another voyage
and in a moment a new nebula will be born. Tho
force of their Impact will suffice to evaporate their
substance Into another cloud which will repeat
the history of the old. The path of the two
dead suns will determine the position of' the
"principal plane" which will form the ground Plata,
of the new sj'stem."
A WO MAN at Anthony, New Jersey has re
cently completed what is, described as the
"craziest patch-work quilt." A writer in the
Kansas City Journal says: "What in all prob
ability -will be known.as one of the most-remarkable
bed quilts in the country has just beea-fin-
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